The Piano Girl - Part Two (Counterfeit Princess Series)
Page 15
“They’ll find us.” Chin lifted, his mother smiled. “I hope she flushed one.”
“Mother!” As the large procession approached, Wron’s lungs filled with air. Beautiful dark horses pulled a stately white carriage. If they were counterfeits, they’d invested a lot of money. Over two hundred men on horseback accompanied his future bride. The blue-and-white uniforms of his future countrymen rode into view.
He felt torn, divided. But, now was not the time to think about himself.
“Roger, for our safety, please greet them,” his father said.
“Perhaps it’s another counterfeit,” Wron said. “Where is Dory?” He scanned the crowd. How had the people gathered so quickly?
“Wron, it’s only three days until your birthday,” his mother said. “Of course it’s Princess Alia.”
Of all times for Dory to go hunting. He sighed.
Roger strode up the walkway toward them, carrying what appeared to be a white handkerchief. “Ambassadors of Blue Sky have escorted Princess Alia. They are extremely fatigued from their long journey, but the princess desires to meet her future husband.” Bowing slightly, Roger presented the folded handkerchief to Wron.
“From your future bride.”
On the corner edge, embroidered into the cloth was a gold crown with one blue jewel—the Blue Sky emblem. “Where is Dory?”
“Here, give that to me”—his mother held out her hand—“before you toss it.”
“Escort them to the commons. After they have freshened up and eaten, we’ll meet them in the Great Hall.” Wron nodded to Roger.
“No!” His father overruled him. “I have been waiting for this day for sixteen years. Roger, escort the princess to us now.”
“Father!” Wron sighed. “You are too trusting. Where is Dory?”
“Escort the princess.” His father’s face flushed.
Roger disappeared through the crowd.
Both Blue Sky and Yonder soldiers addressed the people. “You must make way. Make way for the princess.”
A red carpet was unrolled from the foot of the carriage. Two Blue Sky soldiers nudged it over one hundred feet before it stopped one foot shy of Wron’s polished boots.
“They thought of everything.” Again he searched the sea of faces for the woman he knew he did not want to live without. “Where are you, Dory?” he whispered.
The carriage door was opened, and Princess Alia emerged from the carriage. A hush fell over the crowd. Her future countrymen and women bent to their knees and watched as she, with the assistance of a wide-girthed guard, began her descent from the carriage. Her head bobbed down and then up, as if she were stuck.
He chuckled. The counterfeits had found a young woman who could obviously not walk in high heels. Blue Sky soldiers suddenly surrounded the carriage, and for a brief moment, he could not see the princess. Wron instinctively took a step forward.
The soldiers cleared. The princess now gripped the arm of a wiry-built man with gray hair, and they began their walk toward them.
“Oh, they’re bowing.” His mother’s voice broke as she began to cry.
The sight of his countrymen bowing to someone who was most likely a counterfeit greatly saddened him. In his absence, his parents had rushed ahead, ill advised.
He was reminded of the first night Dory had arrived in Yonder. Cragdon had greeted her at her camp. From the glow of her fire, she’d been filthy. Her clothes thickly soiled. But the uniforms of tonight’s Blue Sky’s soldiers were… Shaking his head, he turned to his parents. “Look at their uniforms! They’re too clean! They have just traveled for over a month.”
“Perhaps they changed in Delfrey.” His father, calmly, rocked back and forth heel-toe, heel-toe.
“Father, I will not be fooled. We will wait for Dory’s opinion.”
“You are jumping to conclusions, Wron. You must trust my intuition this time. Princess Alia has arrived.”
Dropping his shoulders, Wron sighed.
Through the sea of blue-and-white uniforms, the princess stepped closer. Princess Alia was dressed in an opulent blue gown, and her auburn hair was spiraled high above her head. Tendril curls framed her face. The young woman carried herself with grace as she and her father moved toward him.
Around them, the crowd hushed, spellbound by her beauty.
Where are you, Dory? He took one last look toward the distant hills.
He reminded himself that Princess Alia’s eyes were hazel. He looked about the crowd once more for Ivan’s large form, for Dory returning with her shotgun in hand, before his entire attention beheld the princess.
They stopped ten feet away from him, and the man posing as her father kissed her cheek before the beautiful young woman walked the remaining distance toward Wron.
As she stopped before him, he saw that her eyes were indeed hazel. And yes, she and Dory were of the same height. He felt sadly dumbstruck as she held out a white-gloved hand.
Instead of taking it, he bowed slightly. “Our customs are different, Princess Alia” were his first words to her. “In Yonder kingdom, a woman extends her right hand for the greeting kiss, not her left.”
The princess smiled softly and nodded. She appeared hesitant, perhaps shy. In the back of his mind, he recalled that Dory had once said, Alia is not shy.
“As in Yonder tradition, will you please extend your right hand to me now… to show my people that you will soon be one of theirs.”
The young woman retracted her hand. She glanced past him, perhaps to his mother or father, before her gaze settled on his.
“I cannot extend my right hand, Prince Wron,” she said, and her voice carried the familiar Blue Sky accent. “To do so would prove very painful for me.”
He looked about the crowd one last time for Dory before he sadly gave Princess Alia his entire attention. “Why is that?” He shook his head slightly.
“Because, Prince Wron”—she held his gaze and smiled softly—“I, Princess Alia… Dory Vankern Wells, am also… your Dory.”
At the mention of Dory’s name, he glanced sadly up at the stars before he let his eyes lower to hers. It couldn’t be! It couldn’t possibly be. He let his gaze linger on the beautiful young woman before him before he turned to his parents.
Behind a sheen of tears, his father nodded.
“Yes.” His mother nodded. “Alia is our Dory.” Gripping her hands tightly beneath her chin, she continued nodding.
He stepped closer and stared into the young woman’s hazel eyes and briefly touched the smoothness of her cheek. “There are similarities.” Gently, he smoothed back the right sleeve of her gown to see the ugly deep purple-and-brown scab below her collarbone.
She’d almost died.
Gently lifting her chin, he leaned down and glimpsed the heart-shaped mark beneath. “Has it been there all this time?”
“Since the day I was born.” Tears shone in her eyes.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” He swallowed deep emotion.
Her gaze lowered. “At first there was the pox… my father’s absence, the fear of being abandoned in the hills. It’s a long story, Prince Wron, but I had my reasons.”
“It’s too much to take in.” He sighed and lifted a hand to caress her cheek. Stepping closer, he gently took her into his arms and gazed into her sparkling eyes.
For a long, treasured moment, their countries watched as their future king and queen—two people very much in love—officially met for the first time.
“Onderyay!”
Chapter Eighteen
After a piece of Rhoda’s delicious peach pie and a family celebration, Wron and I met as planned by the fire. Seated with our backs against a large log, Wron pulled a small box from his pocket. “I’ve carried this all afternoon.” He smiled, looking at me. “I bought you a gift in Delfrey.”
He held the velvet box for me while I tugged at the ribbon that bound it. Without another word between us, I lifted the lid and stared at a rare jade ring. A wave of emotion passed over me as I recal
led Greda’s words.
May your kindness redurn do you.
Wron pulled the smooth stone ring out for me and held it up to the moonlight. “If you look closely, inside, there are two inscriptions.”
“Where did you say you found it?” I sighed, leaning against him.
“At a merchant’s in Delfrey. A trader I see every now and again.” He glanced down at me. “There are two inscriptions, because I added one.”
“Let me guess the first.” I looked up at the starlit sky. “It reads A-D-W.”
“How did you know?” My beloved stared amazed at me.
“A-D-W stands for Alia Dory Vankern Wells. Vankern is my mother’s maiden name, and it is just like my father to leave that initial out.” I smiled. “He gave me this ring the morning I turned sixteen, and I in turn gave it to Sadie’s mother.”
“What?” His brows gathered.
“Sadie’s home was Felix’s and my first stop on our way here. Their need was far greater than my own. I’ll tell you about Sadie someday… maybe tomorrow.”
Happy with the world, I nuzzled closer in Wron’s embrace. “What did you inscribe?”
He kissed my forehead. “My words are simple: ‘Forever Dory.’ I wanted you to know that though I will marry Princess Alia for my country, I would never forget my memories of you.”
Wron slid the ring on my wedding ring finger, and as I gazed into my beloved’s eyes, he kissed me for the second time.
The End.
Books by Sherri Schoenborn Murray
Counterfeit Princess Series
The Piano Girl
The Viola Girl – Book Two is now available.
Christian romances
Fried Chicken and Gravy – A Christian romance
Sticky Notes – A clean romance
A Wife and a River – A clean fishing romance
I hope you enjoyed The Piano Girl.
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Acknowledgements:
Cover photo of Alia by Clari Noel Photography
Edited by: Cori Murray, Kristi Weber and Carolyn Rose Editing
My daughter, Cori, has nudged me through the years to get this novel done before she’s a full-fledged adult. Thank you, Cori, for all your help and encouragement.
This book took a village. A thank you to my editors: our family friend, Kristi Weber, for catching so many of my commas and grammar issues; and my editor Carolyn Ingermanson, for her expertise and attention to detail.
To my writing group—Randy, Patty, John and Traci—you are like family to me.
And, lastly a thank you to Wil Nuygen. He wrote numerous reference books about Gnomes. See the Gnomes Deluxe Collector’s Edition for a fun read.
See the following pages for
Two of Rhoda’s Recipes
Rhoda’s Giant Cakes a.k.a. Dutch Babies
Make sure you proofread the recipe, and have an adult help you with the hot pans. This is an easy recipe, and my children have enjoyed making them for years. Sometimes, we’ll toss in blueberries, after the batter’s been poured into the pan. Enjoy.
2 Tablespoons butter
4 eggs, well beaten
2/3 cup milk
2/3 cup flour
¼ teaspoon salt
Important: You’ll need: two glass 9 or 10-inch pie plates. They have to be glass for the cakes to climb the sides. The cakes will be puffy when you first pull them out of the oven, and then they’ll fall a bit.
Preheat the oven to 400’ F.
Divide the 2 tablespoons of butter into two glass 9-inch pie plates, (one tablespoon in each pan) and slide into the oven. The warm pans help the batter rise more.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the eggs until yellow and frothy. Add the rest of the ingredients and whisk until well combined.
Keep an eye on the butter in the oven. When it is thoroughly melted, carefully remove the glass pans from the oven using potholders. Swirl the butter around in the pan until it covers the bottom. Pour the batter into the pans and return to the oven for 12-16 minutes. Oven temperatures vary.
The cakes will rise a lot, and the edges will get golden brown while the center stays a glossy yellow. Make sure that the center of the cake has finished cooking. But, don’t over-bake, or the edges will taste dry.
Serve with warm maple syrup and your favorite fruit—peaches, strawberries, bananas…
Say a prayer and thank the good Lord above that you’re not having dribbly porridge.
Note: This recipe also works great for gluten free folks. Substitute your favorite GF flour in place of the wheat flour. The batter doesn’t rise, but the finished pancake is still yummy. My oldest daughter is gluten free; and she loves this recipe.
Rhoda’s Peach Cream Pie
READ through the recipe first. This is an easy pie to make, if you follow each step. There are three steps to this recipe: the crust, filling and topping. You’ll need a good size pie plate to fit all of the ingredients. This pie is amazing with fresh peaches, yet also delicious with canned peaches. This pie is best slightly warm. This recipe is from Marci Kulla, a royal friend.
Preheat oven to 400’ F.
For the easy Crust:
1 ½ cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter, cold
Mix the flour and salt together with a whisk. Cut the butter into the flour, using a pastry blender. Press the mixture into the bottom of a 10 inch pie plate and up the sides.
Filling:
1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sour cream
4 cups sliced fresh peaches
In a medium-sized bowl, combine all the ingredients, folding peaches in last. Pour into the crust. Bake at 400°F. for 15 minutes, and then reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. and bake 20 minutes more before adding the following topping.
Topping:
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup flour
¼ cup butter
Whisk together the sugar, cinnamon and flour. Using the pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry ingredients and mix until crumbly. Sprinkle over pie. Bake for an additional 10 minutes. The pie should not be jiggly in the center. Using hot-pads, remove the pie from the oven and set on a cooling rack. Wait at least 40 minutes before serving. This pie is delicious served warm with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Afterwards, make sure you tidy up the kitchen, and no food fights!
God bless!
Copyright
Copyright © 2015 by Sherri Schoenborn Murray
Christian Romances LLC
All rights reserved.
www.christianromances.com
This is a work of fiction, all characters, places and incidents are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, either living or dead is entirely coincidental.
All rights are reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in brief quotations that are embodied in reviews and specific noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission of said requests, please contact the author through her website:
www.christianromances.com
The Piano Girl - Part Two
Christian Romances LLC
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